Decisions

Resolved that the Constitution and Governance Committee was asked to:

1)     Review the proposed changes to Part I2 – Officer Scheme of Delegation set out in Appendix 1 and provide any comments or suggested amendments for the Monitoring Officer to make following the meeting in consultation with the Chair of the Committee; and

2)    Recommend the revised Part I2 – Officer Scheme of Delegation to the Council’s Annual General Meeting in May.

Resolved that the Constitution and Governance Committee was asked to:

1)     Review and comment on the proposed changes to the following parts of the Council’s Constitution:

               i.         Part D4 – Licensing and Regulatory Committee Terms of Reference

              ii.         Part D5 - Licensing and Sub-Committee Hearing Procedure

2)    Support the proposed changes from the Constitution Working Group – Licensing Committees and recommended them for approval by Full Council on 22 May 2024.

Resolved that the Constitution and Governance Committee was asked to:

1)     Review and comment on the proposed changes to the following parts of the Council’s Constitution:

               i.         Part D8 – Planning Committee Terms of Reference with an addition to 8.8f to accommodate deferrals from Parish and Town Councils where possible.

              ii.         Appendix 1 – Code of Good Practice for Planning

2)    Support the proposed changes from the Constitution Working Group – Planning Committees and recommended them for approval by Full Council on 22 May 2024.

Resolved that the Constitution and Governance Committee recommended to the Annual Council Meeting that the Council approves the changes to the Somerset Council Constitution Part C Council Procedural Rules as set out in Appendix 2.

Resolved that the Constitution and Governance Committee considered the review of Part B and the proposed amendments set out in Appendices 2 and 3 for recommendation to the Council’s Annual General Meeting on 22 May 2024.

Resolved that the Constitution and Governance Committee were asked to note the report and recommend it to Full Council in May.

Resolved that the Constitution and Governance Committee noted the update.

Resolved that the Constitution and Governance Committee noted the work programme.

Resolved that the Constitution and Governance Committee:-

1)     provided a delegation to the Monitoring Officer in consultation with the Chair of the Constitution and Governance Committee to make any further suggested changes to the Financial Regulations arising as a result of the debate to form part of their recommendation to Full Council; and

2)    noted the report and agreed to recommend that Annual Council adopt the Financial Regulations set out in Appendix 1 with immediate effect.

TheProperty and Investments Executive Sub-Committee agreed: 

a.       The revised schedule of assets in Appendix A as being the revised scope of the Non-Treasury Commercial Asset Portfolio.Including the addition ofNorthgate Yard, Bridgwater, Aspen House, Bridgwater to the scheduleand the deletion of  88-92 Middle Street, Yeovil from the schedule. 

b.      To transfer the governance overview of the asset management of 88-92 Middle Street, Yeovil to the Asset Management Group 

c.       That this Executive Sub Committee tasks officers with the following:

i              That the Service Director - Strategic Asset Management write to Elbit UK requesting an urgent meeting to discuss and clarify the current and future use of their premises at Aztec West and report back to the next meeting of this Sub Committee following that meeting.

ii             That the Interim Head of Legal Services and the section 151Officer report  to the next meeting of this Sub Committee on the potential options available to the Council as landlord of the office building at 600 Aztec West in the light of the recent public concerns and protests and the risks and benefits attached to each of those options, including (a) the implications (if any) for the financial stability of Somerset Council and (b) the opinions of the Section 151 officer, the Monitoring Officer and the External Auditor.

The Property and Investments Executive Sub-Committee: 

a.   Considered the performance indicators for the asset management of the Commercial Investment Portfolio for Q4 2023/24: 

b.   Agreed to align future meeting dates to enable KPI updates to be completed prior to publication of meeting reports. 

c.   Considered the main risks to the programme set out under paragraph 10 below. 

No other items of business were raised for discussion.

The Board noted the report and agreed that a separate meeting to be held between Employer and Peninsula Pensions to further discuss the Strategy and proposed fines.

The Board noted the proposed Meeting Workplan 2024-2025 and made the following recommendations:

Ø  Communications Policy to be agreed at the June meeting,

Ø  Cyber Security report to come to June meeting,

Ø  Pension fund Annual Report – October 2024, this will also include election of the Chair and also proposed that a rolling programme of replacement of co-opted members as per the Terms of Reference as states 4 year tenure of membership.

Ø  Review of Strategy Statement for January 2025, to then go forward to the Committee in March 2025.

Ø  LGPS AGM and training needs assessment and this will include a report back from Councillor Hills from the LGPS conference – June 2024.

The Board noted the report and considered that the risk PF- Admin5 should be of a higher risk as concerns raised by the Board and the Pension Fund Committee.

The Board noted the items on the Pension Fund Committee papers from their meeting held on 15 March 2024.

Decision

After retiring to deliberate, the Sub-Committee returned and delivered their decision as below.

The application has been advertised in accordance with the legislation and any conditions need to be appropriate, necessary, and proportionate.

Responsible Authorities

The Sub-Committee noted that there had been no representations made by the Police and Environmental Health or any other as Responsible Authorities: that is organisations and bodies identified as such in the Act.

Consideration

Having considered the submissions, the Statutory Guidance and the Act, the Sub-Committee does not consider that this Application will undermine the licensing objectives. 

The Other Party was not present before the Sub-Committee and therefore not able to answer questions or elucidate on matters set out in their written representation. Accordingly given the above circumstances the Sub-Committee has had to allocate the appropriate weight to the Other Party’s representations.

Conclusion

On the evidence before it, having considered all the circumstances, the Sub-Committee grants the application for a variation to the Premises Licence as applied for together with the Conditions that the Applicant has offered up in section 16 of its application (agenda page 25).

Parties are reminded that there are rights of appeal against this the Licensing Authority’s decision pursuant to Section 181 of and Schedule 5 to the Licensing Act 2003.  An appeal may be made to any Magistrates’ Court in England and Wales, but it is expected that an appellant would bring an appeal to a Magistrates’ Court in the area in which they or the Premises are situated. In this case the Magistrates’ Court sitting at St. John’s Road, Taunton TA1 4AX.

Any appeal must be commenced within a period of 21 days beginning with the day on which the appellant is notified by the Licensing Authority of the decision which is being appealed i.e. within 21 days beginning with the day on which this Decision Notice is given to the appellant.

All parties are also reminded of the procedures contained within the Licensing Act 2003 relating to review of the Premises licence.  This provision permits nearby residents, businesses, or responsible authorities to apply for a review of a Premises licence where problems with crime and disorder, public safety, public nuisance, or the protection of children from harm are occurring. The Sub-Committee respectfully reminds all parties that for any review to go ahead, evidence would need to be collected of incidents occurring that undermine the licensing objectives.

On the evidence before it, having considered all the circumstances, the Sub- Committeegrants theapplication for aPremises Licenceas appliedfor together with the Conditions that the Applicant has offered up through the Operating Schedule in Section M of the application and more specifically set out in Appendix 3 of the agenda papers, with the exception that Condition 5 set out in that document will be amended so that it now reads as follows –

A noise managementplan willbe createdand approved bythe Council and must be available for inspection at the premises, upon any reasonable request by any third party.

Requested that this item return in August ahead of the full business case being submitted to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in September.

The committee resolved to recommend that the Executive Committee looks at all the factors that determine taxi driver incomes, the total impact on income of the proposed changes and at comparisons across rural authorities with regard to day/time pricing and days charged at time and a half when coming to a decision.

Requested that the devolution programme and a review of service level agreements for devolved services be added to the work programme.

Requested a post Glastonbury wash up session be added to the committee work programme later in the year, with the potential to run jointly with Scrutiny Committee – Climate and Place in order to capture all of the Council’s festival activities.

Confirmed Cultural Strategy was on track for the 13^th June meeting of the Scrutiny Committee.

Added item Wheelchair Accessible Taxi Availability.

Resolved that the minutes of the Scrutiny Committee – Communities held on 14^th February 2024 be confirmed as a correct record.

Resolved:

1.     To adopt the hackney carriage and private hire vehicle testing and emergency equipment policy

2.    To amend the legacy policies with the changes outlined in Appendix 2 of the report.

3.    That the Policy and amendments above come into effect on a date to be determined by the Licensing Manager/Specialist, prior to which licence holders will be given no less than 6 weeks notice, via email. To ensure that the implementation is co-ordinated with the nomination of test stations.

The Audit Committee  

1.     Noted the status of the ongoing audit by reviewing the latest Audit Findings report from the external Auditors Grant Thornton UK LLP, as per Appendix 1 of the report.  

2.      Noted the revised Statement of Accounts as attached in Appendix 2 of the report for South Somerset District Council for 2022/23.  

3.    Delegated approval for the final accounts to the Executive Director of Resources and Corporate Services in conjunction with the Chair or ViceChair, once any outstanding matters have been resolved provided below materiality threshold. 

4.     Delegated approval for the signing of a letter of representation, alongside point 3. 

5.      To receive the final External Audit Findings Report and Audit Conclusion for South Somerset Districtat 30 May 2024 meeting of the Audit Committee. 

The Audit Committee:  

1.   Approved the Statement of Accounts as attached in Appendix 1 of the report, once any outstanding matters have been resolved. 

2.      Approved the updated Annual Governance Statement as included within the Statement of Accounts. 

3.  Noted the Audit Findings report from the external Auditors Grant Thornton UK LLP as per Appendix 2 of the report. 

4.    Approved the signing of the letter of representation as per Appendix 3 of the report. 

The Audit Committee reviewed and noted the Audit Committee  

workplan, and agreed the below items be added:

To the 30 May 2024: 

·       Aged Debt report  

·       External Audit Findings Report and Audit Conclusion for South Somerset District 

·       Executive Director Resources and Corporate Services - Strategic risks and the steps taken to mitigate and manage risks report 

To the 2024/25 Workplan:

Fraud Prevention in Somerset Council update

·       Approved the revised Anti-Fraud and Corruption Policy attached in Appendix One of the report.

·       Agreed the case for exempt information for the Appendices 2, 3 and 4, to be treated in confidence, as the case for the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing that information.  

·       Noted the following fraud prevention policies in place for Somerset Council and that these are due for review by April2025:?  

-       Anti-Bribery Policy  

-       Anti-Tax Evasion Policy  

-       Anti Money Laundering Policy;  

·       Acknowledged the new provision in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act of “Failure to Prevent Fraud” that will make companies and partnerships liable for failing to stop employees, agents, or others acting on their behalf, for committing fraud for the benefit of the organisation or its customer, including Somerset Council. 

·       Approved the fraud action plan for 2024/25 and notes that an update will be presented to Audit Committee in 2024 following SWAP Internal Audit’s revised fraud baseline assessment and fraud risk register update, to be completed by September 2024. 

·       Approved the publication of information regarding the Council’s counter-fraud activities covering the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, in adherence to the requirements of the Local Government Transparency Code 2015.  

·       Noted a Fraud Officer is to be appointed on an initial 6 to 12-month fixed term contract; and  

·       Noted that data on staff completing fraud training will be provided to Audit Committee by April 2025. 

The Audit Committee reviewed the assessment against the CIPFA Financial Management Code and action plan. 

The Audit Committee reviewed the action plan and Councils response to it. 

The Audit Committee: 

1.     Noted that a risk deep dive report from an Executive Director  

          each meeting, providing a narrative of their strategic risks 

          and the steps they have taken to mitigate and manage  

          each risk, starting at the 30 May 2024 meeting, with a report 

          from the Executive Director of Resources and Corporate 

          Services. 

2.     Received information that a Workshop will be held with CLT in April/May 2024 to explore the challenges and identify solutions in continuing to improve the quality of strategic risk identification and management at Somerset, whether this is regarding governance, reporting, accountability, clarification of roles and responsibilities and any other necessary step. 

3.    Noted that a proposed revised RAG matrix will be reported to Audit Committee following the CLT workshop and presentation to Statutory Officers Board (SOB) and/or Performance, Risk & Budget Board (PRBB). 

4.    Noted that a proposed risk appetite approach will be reported to Audit Committee following the CLT workshop and presentation to SOB and/or PRBB. 

5.    Noted the current strategic risks for Somerset Council set out in Appendix One of the report. 

6.    Noted the responses to the questions raised by the Committee’s Independent person in a meeting on the 14 February 2024 that was held following the January committee.  

The Audit Committee reviewed and approved the Internal Audit Plan 2024-25 and noted the subsequent planned update to the Internal Audit Charter (Mandate) later in 2024-25. 

The Audit Committee noted the position of the 2023-24 Internal Audit Plan and consider any significant governance, risk and control weaknesses identified. 

The Audit Committee considered and noted the matters raised in Grant Thornton’s Somerset Pension Fund Audit Plan for year ending 31 March 2024 report. 

Following consideration of the officer report, appendices and discussion, the Executive:

1.      Recommends approval of the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) for 2025/26 to 2029/30 and the savings targets for 2025/26 to Council.

2.     Recommends that the Council continues with the aim of avoiding a section 114 notice by taking all of the necessary actions and continuing to operate as if one had been issued. 

3.     Agreed to receive an updated Medium-Term Financial Plan in September 2024 which sets out the latest forecasts of future service costs, income and funding from 2025/26 to 2029/30.

4.    Recommends to continue actively campaigning for the reform of funding of councils and greater local freedoms.

5.     Approved that the Financial Control Boards continue to operate in 2024/25 as set out in Appendix 3 of the report. 

Following consideration of the officer report, appendices and discussion, the Executive agreed:

1.        To relocate services from Petters House Yeovil to Yeovil Library.

2.        To relocate services from Williton Childrens Centre, Williton Library and Beckett House to West Somerset House.

3.        To delegate authority to Service Director, Strategic Asset Management in consultation with the Lead Member for Economy, Planning and Assets to appoint professional services as required, go to tender, evaluate, and award contracts up to £700k in line with approved capital bids, to make layout changes to Yeovil library and West Somerset House to facilitate the co-location of services.

4.       The case for Appendix B of the report to be regarded as exempt information and to be treated in confidence, as the case for the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing that information.

Following consideration of the officer report, appendices and discussion, the Executive:

1.      Approved the proposed scope of the Improvement and Transformation Programme.

2.     Noted the emerging programme timeline.

3.     Noted the progress made since February 2024 and the intention to provide regular update reports to Executive.